XTC Reveal Skylarking's Banned Pubic-Hair Cover for Reissue

Though it has yet to yield a confirmed release date, the deluxe re-release of XTC's 1986 album, Skylarking, has already drummed up mounds of interest. This is partly due to the set featuring the album's original rejected artwork: photos of pubic hair dressed up with flowers.

In an ancient interview with the English new wave act's frontman Andy Partridge [via Slicing Up Eyeballs], he explains what we missed out on in the '80s:

"On one side, pubic hairs of a woman photographed very closely, with meadow flowers tangled, on the other one, pubic hairs of a man with flowers tangled. â¦ I found that it nicely summarized the time, the place and the feeling of the album, and there was a 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' side, mischievous outdoor sex."

The group's current label, Ape House Records, which is run by Partridge, has unearthed the artwork, which was given the heave-ho by Virgin Records for being too risqué (you can see the artwork here). Besides giving the album a remastering job, the imprint hopes that showcasing these stills will give Skylarking the respect it deserves.

"We're sure that folks won't be so prudish in this, the 21st century, and that you'd like the band's history put right visually, and sonically, so to speak," says a post on the label's website.

The label also says fans will be able to buy the deluxe Skylarking "as a deluxe large format double vinyl board book with copious notes from Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, or as the standard double vinyl gatefold. Whichever one suits your pocket or purse."